Is Snacking Good for You?
A friend of yours may tell you that you shouldn’t snack between meals; someone else may tell you that you should. Who’s right?
Do you know the difference between snacking and having a snack? In my definition:
- Snacking is continuously eating or picking at food throughout the day.
- Having a snack entails a set time frame for a smaller meal, or snack.
For instance, Janie eats all of the time, but will tell you that she just snacks. Instead of having a set time for each of her meals and a set snack time each day, she will just “snack” or “graze” throughout her day. However, John has a scheduled snack each day around 4 pm before he heads to the gym.
Which is better for you: Snacking or Having a Snack?
It is actually good for you to eat scheduled snacks (i.e., “have a snack”) if the length of time between two meals is greater than 4-5 hours at a time. For example, if you eat breakfast at 6 am and lunch isn’t until noon, then consider eating a snack around 9:30 or 10 am.
I usually have an afternoon snack on my way out the door at work, because I eat lunch around 1 pm and dinner isn’t until 7 pm—so, around 4:30 or 5 pm, I eat a snack. On a similar note, if you eat dinner at 5 pm, and don’t head to bed until 9 pm or later, it might be good to eat a small snack about an hour before you go to sleep.
With that in mind, what are good snacks to eat?
- Peanut butter and crackers
- Low-fat cheese and crackers
- Granola bars (like Kashi and Fiber One)
- ½ bagel and lite cream cheese
- Small bowl of cereal and low-fat/skim milk
- Piece of fruit
- Celery and peanut butter
- Handful of nuts
- Small bag of lite potato chips/pretzels
- Canned fruit and cottage cheese
However, don’t get into the habit of snacking (i.e., “grazing”) throughout the day. It can throw off the routine of eating and you may not get the nutrients you need. One of the things that you may have noticed from the MyPyramid Plan is that it doesn’t actually tell you what to eat and when. It gives you flexibility throughout the day and the time to schedule in a snack if you need it.
In conclusion, if you are going a length of time without eating, schedule a snack in between a meal. Your body will thank you for the energy boost!
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I like to keep healthy snacks at my desk so I don’t go get junk from the snack machine. The problem though is then it’s easy to graze. I don’t even realize how much I’m snacking until I realize how much is gone.
I have pretty good knowledge of what I should be doing but have trouble putting it into practice. Any suggestions on how to break my bad grazing habit?